The ongoing 9th match of the IPL 2026 between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Gujarat Titans (GT), being played on April 4, 2026, in Ahmedabad, saw GT pacer Ashok Sharma delivering the fastest ball of the tournament yet.
Rashid Khan captained GT in the absence of Shubman Gill, while Riyan Parag captained RR, who won the toss and chose to bat first. Openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (55, 6 fours, 3 sixes) and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (31, 5 fours, 1 six) added 70 runs in 6.2 overs.
After their dismissal, only Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer (18) passed double digits. Jurel carried on to make 75 in 42 balls with 5 fours and as many sixes as RR posted 210/6 in 20 overs.
However, the highlight from the innings, apart from Jurel’s excellent knock, was Ashok Sharma, the 23-year-old pacer from Rajasthan, who plays for GT. He took 1/37 in his 4 overs and in the 16th over of the RR innings, delivered the fastest delivery of the IPL 2026.
It was a 154.2 kph yorker to Dhruv Jurel, leaving everyone impressed. Ashok has constantly bowled fast, crossing 145 kph regularly and even hitting 150-mark twice in the same over. His 154.2 kph delivery became the fastest ball of IPL 2026, beating Anrich Nortje’s earlier mark of 150.9 kph.
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Ashok Sharma was selected by Gujarat in the IPL 2026 auction. He had a base price of INR 30 lakh and was selected for INR 90 lakh. He made his IPL debut in 2026.
Ashok, who is from Rampura village near Jaipur, is a right-arm uncapped pacer from Rajasthan. He also played for the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the 2022 season and the Royal Rifles (RR) in the 2025 season.
He has played four first-class games and taken 14 wickets. He has also appeared in seven List A games, bringing up 13 wickets. GT's previous encounter versus PBKS saw him take one wicket for 31 runs.
